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Is it too late to apply for medicine?

Im in year 12 and have done little super curricular involving medicine so far. Is it too late to apply in October? If not, what should I pick up other than extra reading and online courses.

Reply 1

BankaiGintoki

Original post by adam_bunch

Im in year 12 and have done little super curricular involving medicine so far. Is it too late to apply in October? If not, what should I pick up other than extra reading and online courses.

Virtual work experience: https://www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/how-to-apply-to-medical-school-in-the-uk/work-experience
Volunteering: https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/work-experience/volunteering/ .

The most important thing is reflecting on your experience and linking it with medicine. You can do it by reading books: https://www.sgul.ac.uk/study/widening-participation/documents/medicine-reading-list.pdf

If you are serious, you will need to book the UCAT. There is not a lot of free resources to help you.
https://www.themedicportal.com/blog/medic-portal-vs-medic-mind-how-do-they-compare/

(edited 4 months ago)

Reply 2

UCLan Student

Official Rep

Original post by Adam_Bunch

Im in year 12 and have done little super curricular involving medicine so far. Is it too late to apply in October? If not, what should I pick up other than extra reading and online courses.

Hi @Adam_Bunch

You still have plenty of time over summer to find some volunteering / work experience! You could volunteer somewhere like a charity shop or working with vulnerable people. I have linked our applicant guide here which details what UCLan would look for in terms of your work experience !

I hope this helps,
-Rebecca UCLan

Reply 3

reducto7082

Original post by Adam_Bunch

Im in year 12 and have done little super curricular involving medicine so far. Is it too late to apply in October? If not, what should I pick up other than extra reading and online courses.

Hi! Definitely not too late, as others on this thread have said, it's more important to reflect and learn from experiences, even if you only have a few. Have a look at the Medic Portal for articles about current issues in medicine to keep up to date. Probably the most important thing is starting to look at the UCAT admissions test by watching some YouTube videos, booking opens in mid June. Good luck!

Reply 4

Tulipbloom

Original post by Adam_Bunch

Im in year 12 and have done little super curricular involving medicine so far. Is it too late to apply in October? If not, what should I pick up other than extra reading and online courses.

Hey you have more than enough time. I too did very little for CCAs in med (only did Medsoc in school which I didn't even mention in my personal statement). During the summer though, I managed to find 3 shadowing opportunities (lasted only a few days each) and I also started volunteering at a care home. So yes it is abt quality over quantity and like others have said = reflect on your experiences. People understand that finding physical/in-person experiences = not the easiest for med (especially after COVID). In your PS, you have actually very little room to talk abt these experiences and so you have to just put in the things that most stood out to you as you need to make space for for eg: your other non-med CCAs. It was during interviews that I really got to talk about my experiences = full out. Like I said, I only spent a few days shadowing each doctor but I was more involved during that time that I thought I would = I translated for patients, observed procedures, worked in admin, helped nurses, talked about my EPQ and actually got some mentoring for it, followed a patient for a full day, assisted during sit-in appointments. So it's the little things. I even mentioned in an interview that I helped make pamphlets for the clinic I shadowed at after my experience. Hope this helps!